Page 62 of The Tenth Circle

“Uh-huh.”

“Hendrix Montgomery.” He all but spanks me.

“Archer Beaumont.”

“It’s me, c’mon. I’m not blind. Or stupid.”

“I argue the stupid.”

He uses a playful shove to try and keep the energy between us light.

“Tell me.”

“Tell you what? If there’s something you wanna know, just come out and ask the damn question.”

“Fine. Are you sure you haven’t been trying to make Saint jealous?”

I let out an incredulous laugh.

“Okay, now you’re stupidandcrazy.”

Archer gives me a look like he calls bullshit.

And it’s hella freaking rude.

Yeah, I know Saint is hot. I have eyes.

Good in bed too. I have ears.

Smells like oranges. Got a nose.

But none of this has to do with why I’ve been caught playing this game with him.

Nope.Niente.

None of it.

Almost everything I’ve done with Saint, up until our standoff in The Pit, was strictly on principle.

At times, for the fun of having an effect on him.

My dedication to win was in response to his callous behavior. Which started the second I let him touch me in that stupid storage room. Continued when he pretended not to know me after. Escalated when he hurt my friends. And ended in blind hatred the moment he called me a whore.

So, yeah, Saint Lavell can go straight to fucking Hell.

“We both know I’m neither stupid or crazy,” Archer argues.

Shocker.

“Fine. But you still don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

Archer smiles, his strong, yet gentle arms pulling me down on the bed so we lay next to each other—and I waste no time sinking into the embrace I need way too much.

“Ah, this is nice.” I breathe in his fresh, clean scent. “My bestie. Me. Hugging. No talking.”

“Like I was saying…”

I let out a petulant moan. “You’re failing at the no talking thing.”